AMD "Officially" Launches Puma Notebook Platform

Advanced Micro Devices today announced the official launch of its next-generation 'Puma' notebook platform. The new platform features ATI Radeon HD 3000 graphics and new AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core processors.

The new mobile platform is defined when a notebook has an AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor, ATI Radeon HD 3000 graphics, an AMD 7-series chipset, and an industry-leading wireless card.

AMD 7-series chipset

The new AMD 7-series chipset, M780G and SB700, feature integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics and have support for DirectX 10. AMD claims its integrated graphics have up to three times the performance of competitor's solutions. The HD 3200 integrated graphics include ATI Avivo HD technology, which improves image viewing and video playback and offloads such work to the GPU, leaving the CPU free to perform other tasks.

AMD Turion X2 Ultra


The new AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor features new technologies including HyperTransport 3.0, a new mobile-optimized memory controller, and AMD Independent Dynamic Core Technology. Enhanced AMD PowerNow! technology provides independent and dynamic control of core performance; parts of the processor can be shut off when not in use to preserve power.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 is the fastest mobile graphics card produced to date by the company. It is built on 55nm technology and supports ATI CrossFireX mobile graphics technology.

The Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series has a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface a PCI Express 2.0 interface. It supports Microsoft DirectX 10.1. and full 1080p Blu-ray video. Support for ATI Avivo HD Technology is included. 55nm manufacturing technology combined with ATI PowerPlay technology allows the HD 3800 to have high energy efficiency. ATI says the new series has an excellent performance-per-watt ratio and has a new design size to improve thermal characteristics.

The Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series has support for HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort, and has native support for up to four monitors. Notebooks with both integrated and dedicated graphics can benefit from ATI CrossFireX technology, which is a feature of ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. It boosts graphics performance up to 70 percent by running the integrated and discrete graphics together.

Another new technology called ATI PowerXpress allows the notebook to use integrated graphics when on battery and turn off the discrete graphics card, saving up to an hour and a half of battery life.

New wireless technologies

AMD's latest notebook platform includes cutting-edge wireless technology, including 802.11 draft-n and 3G from partners including Atheros, Broadcom, and Ralink.

Availability

New notebook designs based on the platform are available now from major notebook makers including Acer, Asus, Clevo, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, MSI, NEC, and Toshiba.

Related Story

Early Hands on with new AMD Puma and Toshiba A300

 

Integrated and discrete working together? Wouldn't that mean laptops with AMD chipset and dual ATI GPUs will be able to use 3 GPUs at once when needed to?

 

AMD certainly seems to be ahead in the graphics department (miles ahead, in fact), but their new CPU has yielded less than stellar results, which AMD desperately does not need at this point. I for one am disappointed that they haven't moved on to a new architecture. The Turion platform has been around since the Pentium M era.

 

Hi.

It looks like AMD is after some of the middle to top end of the market, instead of the bottom to middle, as they are usually sell budget machines.

very interesting.

regards

john.

 

It seems that the mobility 3870 has the same hardware spec as the desktop version. Can't wait to see some benchmarks.

 

I'm also very excited to see the benchmarks of the new HD 3800 series, they sound promising indeed.

 

I always question a new product of this nature in terms of reliability..
Any input on this?

 

Don't know if anyone else saw it, but ATI also announced XGP external graphics compatible with the new PUMA platform..

So, as near as I can tell you'd still have the onboard gpu solution with puma and could use an external gpu in a docking station. Wonderful solution I'll be interested to see when it starts getting reviewed. Looks like good things are coming out of the ATI / AMD merge finally.

 

And the current turion machines will prob see rebates....

 

The integrated only be used in a real crossfire mode when paired with a low end gpu(3400 series). When paired with a more powerful one it will be there to get better battery life. So you can have a powerful gpu when plugged to the power outlet and better battery life when not. Like the alienware m15x and some other notebooks with dual cards(a intel integrated and a nvidia discret) but without the need to reboot the system to change between them.

 

Promotional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMs5DXBja-A

 

this could be a very very attractive buy for someone, who wants to play games but not have to rob a bank to do it, we'll have to wait and see the benchmarks

 

If not mistaken, the ATI Hybrid CrossFireX technology just support for Windows Vista only.

 

i have a feeling hybrid Sli and 9800m GTX will be announced soon in response.

 

^AMD will probably be cheaper in the end, because all the parts come form them. Verse having to buy from bother nvidia and intel.

 

Which HP laptop has or will have AMD Puma?

 

Lol if they can fit a 8800gtx into a 15.4" whos saying they cant fit a 3870 into a 14" , It consumes way less power...

Then you could get hybrid graphics in a 14" laptop wow , an integrated 3200 for low battery saving stuff , then when needed you fire up the 3870 and go into a hardcore gaming mode.

 

Except that the 8800GTX fit into a 15.4" is:

a.) Just a stripped down 8800GT.
b.) Only showing up in slightly...shall we say..."meatier" 15.4" notebooks.

All that said, the HD 3800s are, I think, quite likely to show up in at least a couple 15.4" notebooks. Their power draw is low enough, and the chips themselves are actually quite small compared to the mobile G92 being shoehorned into laptops.

PowerXpress and then Hybrid Crossfire for mobility 3450s is, quite frankly, very sexy. I'm using an Intel notebook right now but these Puma units aren't looking too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

 

Can't wait until MSI releases it's PX210 / PX211 based on the new Puma platform.

 

There's a Clevo featuring the AMD 3470X2 , called the
M761JU ...

 

So we can buy Puma based laptops today, huh? So when do they ship?

 

where to get puma laptops? cant find any!

 

Yeh, but based on some reports, PowerXpress will not be available until late 3rd Quarter.

If you are just getting the IGP version, then getting a Puma based system now would be great. However, if you are getting a Discrete Graphics card, it would best to wait until PowerXpress is available, wouldn't it.

Also, in my opinion, when comparing the Intel platform Centrino (CPU, chipset, Wireless Card) vs AMD Puma platform (CPU, chipset, GPU), Intel is missing the boat. Notice how I am now discounting the Intel IGP as irrelevant. Yes, you need wireless, just like you need a hard drive, but it is not part of the heart of the system like a GPU is.

 

While it is true that Intel does not have its own dedicated graphics solution along with its mobile platform, it would not affect the end user much since they could always use Nvidia gpus or even Ati gpus. And the end user might actually prefer notebooks with the Intel platform since they have the performance lead right now.

 

Yes, you can put a dedicated graphics card on either the Centrino platform or the Puma platforms, but in terms of the guts of the system, my personal opinion is that AMD has more of a balance.

Puma

*** CPU (good enough),
*** Chipset (Decent),
**** IGP (pretty good - granted, based on speculation right now)

Centrino / Centrino 2

***** CPU (Great - if you go high end),
**** Chipset (a little better than decent),
* IGP (ugly, - maybe it will be better with Centrino 2, okay, I am being mean),
** Wireless (standard offering - nothing special)

In terms of your comment on end users preferring Intel for performance. True, but then they are buying the Core 2 Duo not the Centrino platofrm

 

Hybrid Crossfiring in sub 15" notebooks will be very sexy indeed; something Intel will never be able to achieve (as it stands).

 

any new on the 12" MSI notebooks?

 

That is terrible.

 

New "Puma" notebooks at

Circuit City:
HP Pavilion tx2510us
$1049.99 after rebate

• AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-80 (2.1GHz)
• 12.1" Touch-screen
• 250GB hard drive
• Built-in wireless 802.11abgn
• 3GB of DDR2 memory
• Burns DVDs and CDs
• Fingerprint reader​

HP TX2510US link

HP Pavilion dv5-1002us
Current sell price: $999 after rebates

• AMD Turion 64 X2 ZM-80
• 15.4" high-definition widescreen display
• 320GB hard drive
• Built-in wireless 802.11abgn
• 4GB of DDR2 memory
• Burns DVDs and CDs
• Built-in webcam
• Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics RS780M ​

HP dv5-1002us link


Coming soon to a Best Buy near you:

HP TX2525NR

• AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-70 (2.0GHz)
• 3GB
• 250GB
• 12.1”​

HP DV5-1004NR

• AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-80 (2.1GHz)
• 4GB
• 250GB
• 15.4"​

HP DV5-1002NR

• AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-70 (2.0GHz)
• 3GB
• 250GB
• 15.4"​

TOSHIBA M305D-S4830

• AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-80 (2.1GHz)
• 4GB
• 250GB
• 14.1"​

TOSHIBA U405-S2852
Best Buy sku: 8897615
Current sell price: $899.99

Specs:
• AMD Turion RM-70 (2.0GHz CPU clock) processor w/1800MHz Hypertransport Bus
• 3GB DDR2 800MHz
• 250GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
• ATI Radeon HD 3100 graphics (500Mhz GPU clock)
• DVD SuperMulti Drive
• Webcam with face recoginition
• 802.11G Wireless (Atheros)
• Multi-card memory card reader

Additional details can be found here: